Chapter 1: Chapter 1 – Awakening 

A six year old boy with jet black hair and chubby cheeks sat on the carpet of his family’s modest living room, a red toy truck in his hand. He rubbed his eyes and yawned, but he did his best to stay awake. Dad promised to bring back that cool spaceship ice cream today once he came back from work. 

Headlights appeared on the driveway, and Zack looked up excitedly towards the blinds. Dad was home! 

Two sets of footsteps approached the door, followed by a loud rap on his door. That was kind of weird. Dad never knocked because he had keys, and it sounded like he had someone with him. 

Mom came out of the kitchen and ran to the door, taking a look through the blinds before opening it. Zack put down his toy truck and stood up, walking over as fast as his little legs could take him to take a closer look at what was going on. He saw two police officers at the doorway, and no sign of dad. 

“Good evening ma’am. Is this the residence of Frank Baker?” the officer asked, peering into the humble housing complex. He was accompanied by a second officer behind him with a clipboard and a gaunt complexion. 

“Yes, he’s my husband,” his mother replied, her voice concerned. She was a beautiful woman in her late thirties with auburn hair and a thin frame, but stress had begun to take its toll on her face. “Is something wrong?” 

An uncomfortable silence ensued as the officers glanced at each other. 

“I’m sorry,” the officer said solemnly. “We’re here to deliver bad news. Your husband Frank was killed last night. We found his body by the pier this afternoon with two bullet wounds in his chest.” 

Zack felt his heart sink into his little chest. His legs got wobbly, and his eyes were as wide as saucers. He was young–perhaps too young to face this kind of reality. 

“W-what?” his mother gasped. A look of horror appeared in her eyes. “No, that’s not possible! Are you sure that it was him?”

The officer nodded gravely. “Unfortunately, yes. Besides the bullet wounds, his face and body were unharmed and he could be easily identified.” 

“B-but why? What did Frank ever do?” his mother cried, her voice trembling. “No… this can’t be happening… how will my son and I live like this?”

She fell to her knees, her hands covering her face as she crumbled to the ground. “Frank…” 

The six year old boy had never seen his mother like this before. The sight of her collapsed on the ground and sobbing made his heart feel heavy. He felt a lump form in his throat, his head getting a bit dizzy. 

But that wasn’t all he felt. For some reason, the way the officers were acting was weird. It felt like they were hiding something. 

“We’re really sorry, ma’am,” the officer continued. He put on a sympathetic face, but for some reason, Zack felt that he was not being sincere. The officer behind him of smaller stature cleared his throat nervously.

Zack balled his little hands into fists. He didn’t like how the officers were being weird. He felt a bit angry. He wanted to shout at them. 

“Has your husband ever been involved with the Sicilica?” 

Zack blinked. That term felt familiar for some reason, he just didn’t know why. 

Mom looked up at the officer confused, tears still in her eyes. “Excuse me?” 

“The Sicilica gang. Our investigation found that the bullets used match those used by them. Outside of gangs, there isn’t really any other source of firearms.”

“I don’t understand. Why would he be involved with a gang? Frank just worked at the port as a loading manager. He was an honest man, and he certainly didn’t have any connection to gangs!” 

The officers and his mother spoke at length, his mother getting more emotional by the moment. 

Zack’s arms trembled. He felt so sad, realizing that he’d never see his father again, but he also felt nervous. His heartbeat increased. This was bad. Where did he hear the term Sicilica before? 

“I’m very sorry ma’am, but it might have just been an accident. It’s possible that the Silica gang mistook him for another target.” 

Target? 

Suddenly, a memory surfaced in the boy’s head. 

It was three days ago. He had been playing with his best friend from school Hugo at the old ship scrapyard down the block. 

Mom didn’t like when he played with Hugo, saying that he was a bad influence on him because Hugo liked to do dangerous things. She told him to be careful when playing with him. He didn’t mind, though. Hugo was crazy and fun, and they liked to play pirates. 

On that day three days ago, Hugo climbed up to the top of the shipping crate above a pile of scrap that they called the mountain. Zack followed him up the mountain, and they sat on top of the shipping crate looking down at the beach. 

That’s when they saw dad’s boss Mr. Cullen down by the scrapyard beach, talking to a scary looking man with sunglasses and a dragon tattoo on his neck. Mr. Cullen was balding, and he was the father of that mean boy at school called Barry. Kids weren’t supposed to play in the scrapyard, so Zack ducked down, pulling Hugo with him. He didn’t want Mr. Cullen to tell his dad that he was playing in a dangerous place. 

Zack and Hugo peeked from the cargo ship crate as Mr. Cullen instructed the scary looking man with the big tattoo on his neck.

“He’s been getting too nosy. I need you to get rid of him,” Mr. Cullen said. “The union needs their leader to run the strike. That fucker has been getting on my nerves for too long.” 

The scary man nodded, accepting a briefcase from Mr. Cullen before the two of them walked away. 

Zack didn’t really know what those words meant, and he didn’t think too much about it on the day. However, he remembered the look on Mr. Cullen’s face–he was flush red with anger. 

He knew that he shouldn’t butt into adult talks, but he decided to speak up. He was sad and angry that his dad was not coming home. Maybe what he saw would help the police. 

“Mom,” he said, walking over to her with a shaky step. He felt nervous but determined. 

His mother scurried over and patted his back, guiding him back towards the living room. “Dear, grown-ups are talking now. Why don’t you go get some rest?”

Normally he would listen to his mom, but he felt like he had to speak up. 

“I saw Mr. Cullen talking to someone, he said something about Silica.” 

Mom froze in her tracks, and the two officers shot looks at Zack. He felt paralyzed for a moment, sensing something was wrong. 

“Hey buddy, why don’t you come over here?” the officer in the back croaked, speaking for the first time. “You say that you heard Mr. Cullen speaking with the Sicilica? Mr. Cullen is a very important man, and this is a grave accusation.”

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Zack gulped. The tone that the police officer was using wasn’t friendly at all. He didn’t like this. Was he in trouble? Dad always said that Mr. Cullen was an important man. Maybe he shouldn’t say bad things about Mr. Cullen. 

Mom stood up, wiping the tears from her eyes. “Don’t mind my little boy. I think he’s taking the news about his father poorly. I’ll bring him upstairs for bedtime. Let’s go, sweetie, okay?”

She yanked him by the arm and into the living room. Both officers shot dirty looks at his mom and him. They looked disgusted and offended. It was the same expression his teacher gave when she stepped on a bug in the classroom. One of the officers reached for his baton, but the other motioned him down. 

Mom saw that as well, and she panicked. He could feel her arms trembling. The moment that she left the vision of the officers, tears formed again in her eyes. 

Zack looked down at the ground, feeling guilty and sad. He felt like he made a big mistake telling the police officers about what he saw, and they looked so angry at him and mom. 

After going up the stairs and into his bedroom, mom closed the door behind them and planted him on his bed, pulling the blankets over his body. She knelt down and spoke to him in a quiet voice.

“Zack, baby, listen… Whatever you saw before, forget about it and don’t talk about it to anyone, okay? Mommy is going to take care of you.” She tried to maintain a confident tone, but her voice cracked as she started sobbing again. “Oh, how could this have happened…”

Tears welled up in the six year old’s eyes. Everything was going wrong tonight. He felt confused and alone, and scared. He didn’t know what to do.

“Mommy is going to go downstairs and talk to the officers. Stay here, and remember, never say anything about this to anyone, okay sweetie?” She tucked him into his blanket, then kissed him on the forehead. He felt the wetness of her tears on his forehead. “Close your eyes and try to go to sleep. We’ll talk more tomorrow.” 

Zack nodded obediently and closed his eyes, hearing the door creak open as his mother left to go downstairs. 

His head swam with disorganized thoughts, sorrow and anger. He thought about dad as he fell asleep. He really missed dad. Dad said he was going to take them to Adventureland this summer. 

Six months later… 

A pile of books the size of a fridge sat by six year old Zack’s bed. He flipped through Algebra I and Greek Mythology. He didn’t understand a lot of the words or numbers, but he found out that if he read it slower he could understand better. 

Life without dad was sad. Mom looked sick, and they never had money for ice cream or snacks. The summer passed and they didn’t get to go to Adventureland. Mom said it was because they couldn't afford it. Even though he was just six years old, he understood what his mom meant. He didn’t whine or complain like a regular six year old. He felt a lot more mature now with dad gone. Mom told him that he was the man of the house now. 

Dad always told him that education was the way to improve his life. He felt like he understood dad more now too. On that day, Mr. Cullen said words that he didn’t understand, and Zack didn’t care if they were adult words or not–he was going to learn them. 

Mom didn’t have any money to buy him books, so he went to the library and took out as many as he could. He brought them back one by one because they were too heavy for him. 

He scored first place in his class’s math contest. It was easy after reading so many math books. Mom was really proud of him. She said that if he studied hard and got into a good college, he could make a lot of money. 

He wanted to make more money and give it to mom. She looked so sad every day, and she was always tired from her job, so giving her money would make her happier. He wanted to make her smile like she did before when dad was alive. 

Barry was mean to him at school. He poured chocolate sauce on Zack’s favorite shirt. Zack threw his eraser at him, but mom yelled at him when he got back home. She said that Barry was dangerous, but didn’t explain why. 

Maybe if he read more books, he would know why. Why was Mr. Cullen’s son allowed to be so mean, and he wasn’t? Why did the police defend Mr. Cullen? Why did the other kids get to have normal families? Those questions made him so angry, and the angrier he got, the more he read. 

A few years later… 

When other kids went to the park and had ice cream, Zack stayed home and studied and helped his mother. They were so poor now, and mom had trouble putting food on the table. They ate cabbage and potatoes most nights, with some cheap pork here and there. He wanted to work, but his mom said that he was still too young. 

His studies were stellar now. Because he read so many books throughout elementary school, he knew a lot more than the other kids in middle school. He finally understood more about Mr. Cullen. 

Barry Cullen was getting meaner to him every year. His friends ambushed Zack on the way to school, throwing mud at him. 

Zack wasn’t someone who would let himself get bullied, and neither was Hugo. 

However, he remembered what mom said. They could not touch Barry Cullen. Not them, not the teachers, not even the police. All because his dad was powerful and connected, and a ten year old boy couldn’t take him down yet. 

He needed a few more years to increase his knowledge before he could strike back. For now, he had to bide his time. The world was more complicated than he first thought. Mr. Cullen was a financier with connections everywhere. 

Many years later… 

“You son of a bitch, you actually did it,” Hugo said with a grin. 

The rebelliously blonde dyed haired teen sat across the table from Zack and his mom at the dinner table.

“Language, dear!” mom said for the seventh time this evening. She was always like this with Hugo.

Zack’s mom had long stopped nagging him about hanging out with Hugo. It turned out that he was a true and loyal friend that Zack wouldn’t trade for anything in the world, even though he could be a bit knuckleheaded at times. 

But that wasn’t the main event of the evening. Zack could barely contain his grin. In front of him was a beautifully embroidered acceptance letter from the most prestigious university in the country, Vermillion University. 

Even appearance wise, he had improved quite a bit. He grew out his hair, which now hung down his forehead rather handsomely. He had a sharp jawline that he grew into in his teenage years, which complemented his deep-set blue eyes and wide smile that gave him a handsome air, and if he weren’t so skinny that he looked sickly and not so dirt poor that he had to be stingy, he’d be popular with the girls at school.

His mom beamed at him despite her sickliness and her cough that was worsening. 

“Our fortunes are changing,” he said with satisfaction. Years of battling with inner demons led him to this point. He kept his head low and avoided that bastard Cullen family and all their affiliated branch families, even as they made his life a living hell from that fateful day onwards. 

Now, with a Vermillion pedigree at hand, he felt like he could do anything. 

Unfortunately, as it turned out, fate was a fickle mistress. 

With no particular achievement of his own besides a donation of a large historical art collection and a few string pulls, Barry Cullen managed to also enroll in Vermillion University thanks to his father Sullivan Cullen’s machinations. Zack nearly coughed blood when he found out about that. Life was truly unfair for the privileged. But that was not the end of fate’s precarious meddling.

Two weeks after orientation, something strange happened in the world.

A Tower appeared in the middle of the great ocean. A Tower that would change everything. 

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